Seaver to Announce Retirement : Former Met to Make Official What is Already Fact

Tom Seaver, the symbol of the New York Mets’ rise from laughing stock to a world champion, may formally announce within the next week what is already a foregone conclusion--his retirement from baseball.

Matt Merola, who represents Seaver in a variety of ventures, said the 42-year-old pitcher hasn’t received any offers from major league teams since his contract with the Boston Red Sox expired at the end of last season.

“If we don’t hear anything in a week, we’ll probably make it official,” Merola said. He added that Seaver was keeping in shape by playing racquetball but hasn’t been throwing.

Seaver, with a career record of 311-205, a 2.86 earned-run average and 3,640 strikeouts to rank third on the all-time list, had a combined 7-13 record last year with the Chicago White Sox and Boston.

The three-time National League Cy Young Award winner would become eligible for election to baseball’s Hall of Fame in 1991 if he retires this season. Seaver wasn’t available for comment and Merola said his client is declining all requests for interviews.

Like other Class A free agents who didn’t sign with another team, Seaver was eligible to rejoin the Red Sox on May 1.

“He’s made it clear he wants to play in New York or Boston and I don’t think that’s going to happen,” Merola said of Seaver, who lives in Greenwich, Conn.

“I don’t even discuss it with him. I assume he has retired,” the agent said. “I think he’s very content to let it go. He’s essentially retired.”

Seaver spent the first 10-plus seasons of his 20-year career with the Mets, joining the club in 1967 when it was still an expansion doormat. He was 16-13 with a 3.13 ERA and was voted NL rookie of the year.

In 1968, he was 16-12 with a 2.20 ERA as the Mets finished ninth in the 10-team NL. He leaped to stardom and brought the Mets along with him in 1969, posting a 25-7 record and 2.21 ERA as the “Miracle Mets” won the World Series.

Seaver was traded by the Mets to the Cincinnati Reds in June of 1977, returned to the Mets in 1983, then was drafted by the White Sox in 1984 when the Mets failed to protect him by putting him on the 40-man roster.

He set major-league records with 200 strikeouts in 10 seasons, including nine in a row; 10 consecutive strikeouts in a game, 17 strikeouts in a five-game championship series, and 16 Opening Day pitching assignments.

Seaver struck out 19 San Diego Padres, including 10 in a row, on April 22, 1970, to tie a major-league that was eclipsed last year when Boston’s Roger Clemens struck out 20 Seattle Mariners.

Seaver won the Cy Young Award in 1969, 1973 and 1975, led the National League in strikeouts five times and ERA three times, and pitched a no-hitter on June 16, 1978, against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Seaver won his 300th game against the New York Yankees in 1985, when he was 16-11 with a 3.17 ERA for the White Sox. Last year, troubled by a knee injury, he was 2-6 for Chicago and 5-7 with the Red Sox.

His knee troubles kept him out of the American League playoffs and the World Series, costing him the opportunity to pitch against the Mets.